Lecture 1; backgrounds to the study of psychology
psychology = the science of human behaviour and its underlying mental processes
- 3 fundamental ideas for psychology
- the scope of psychology
- thoughts about using this book and its features
- thinking critically
- key terms
3 fundamental ideas for psychology
1) behaviour and mental processes have no supernatural, but rather a material origin.
dualism VS materialism
2) an individual changes because of experiences
Nature VS nurture
3) humankind was shaped by evolution and natural selection, just as all other species
Evolution VS Creationism
1 - DUALISM VS MATERIALISM
Descrates. body = machine
humans not mechanic, they have conscious thought
thoughts were performed by a mind that exists seperately from the body
foundation idea > body-mind dualism
,Qualia = about the subjective quality of an observable thought, or memory
19th century:
One especially important development for the later emergence of psychology was an
increased understanding of reflexes. The basic arrangement of the nervous system—
consisting of a central nervous sys- tem (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral nerves that
connect the central ner- vous system to sense organs and muscles
Some of these physiologists began to suggest that all human behavior occurs through
reflexes—that even so-called voluntary actions are actually complex re- flexes involving
higher parts of the brain. One of the most eloquent proponents of this view, known as
reflexology,
phrenology- Franz Joseph Galt
counterforces>
brain damages affects mind
when does that ‘mind’ come into existence
> result ; idea that a material base for our thougt processes is gaining ground
= materialism (Hobbes)
2- NATURE VS NURTURE
Empiricism, in this context, refers to the idea that human knowledge and thought derive
ultimately from sensory experience (vision, hearing, touch, and so forth). If we are machines,
we are machines that learn.
NURTURE : Locke Tabula rasa (blank state)
, - the primary building blocks for experience are the senses
- association takes place when ‘building blocks’ appear successively or simultaneously
- J.S.Mill introduced ‘mental chemistry’ into associationism. mental chemistry = the
fusion of sensory elements in a new compound which is more than the mere sum of
the constituent parts. “associationism by analogy with chemistry that forms mental
compounds with qualities not inherent in the elements to be combined.”
Ivan Pavlov - classical conditioning
John B. Watson
transformed pavlovs work into an all-in psuchological approach; behaviourism
assumed; people learn everything by associating stimuli and responses
all behaviour is learned
NATURE:
The opposite of empiricism is nativism, the view that the most basic forms of human
knowledge and the basic operating characteris- tics of the mind, which provide the
foundation for human nature, are native to the human mind—that is, are inborn and do not
have to be acquired from experience
in philosophy difference between Kant
- priori knowledge
- posteriori knowledge
in psychology supported by indications which prove that not everything is learned
Max Wertheimer
one of the founders of Gestalt psychology
= Gestalt psychologists believed that humans tend to perceive objects as complete rather
than focusing on the gaps that the object might contain. For example, a circle has good
Gestalt in terms of completeness. However, we will also perceive an incomplete circle as
a complete circle.
Noam Chomsky
book “synactic structures”
language ability is innate
3. EVOLUTION VS CREATION
EVOLUTION
Darwin book: “the origin of species”
idea; living things evolve gradually, over generations, by a process of natural selection.
through natural selection, living things have acquired tendencies to behave in ways that
promote their survival and reproduction. function of behaviour is studied in survival and
reproduction.
Position of psychology
, subdomains of psychology
cognitive
developmental
social
work&organisational
clinical
Lecture 2 ; methods of psychology
theory: phone radiation causes health issues, and a radiation blocker is able to reduce the
influence of phone radiation.
hypothesis; a radiation blocker will reduce radiation-related health issues
prediction; insomnia reduces if people use life maxx’s radiation blocker
independent variable: use radiation blocker for 2 weeks
dependent variable : duration of insomnia
placebo effect ; participant’s expectations can affect the results
observer-expectancy effect ; the observer’s expectations can also have an (intentional or
unintentional) effect on the results
how can we prevent ?
- double-blind design
- preregister studies ; complete setup: theory, hypothesis, operationalisation,
experiment, analysis plan & publish the results whatever the outcome
> avoids: data fishing
> publication bias
- make all data available to others
- meta analysis
psychology as a science
being transparent about;
